To make fruit and vegetable sector more attractive for retailers, the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday decided to put fruit and vegetables out of the Agriculture Produce Market Committees Act.
The fruit and vegetable growers will now have choices to sell their yield out of mandis. The previous Congress government had amended mandi bylaws to allow private players to procure farm yield directly from the market. That resulted in investment from big companies like ITC, which also set up their private mandis.
“The age-old Act will be amended soon by an ordinance or in the next session of the assembly,” said Kailash Vijayvergiya, minister for horticulture and member of cabinet committee on agriculture.
This would put an additional burden of Rs 40 crore on the state exchequer. Though floriculture is yet to take shape in the state, the committee on Monday also decided to put it on one of the prime areas. The fruit and vegetable growers will be exempted from paying mandi tax at various check posts and middlemen would remain uninvolved.
“Government would soon invite private players to create horticulture hubs in various districts so that local varieties of fruit and vegetables can be stored and marketed properly,” the minister said.
Plans to promote micro irrigation in arid areas like western Madhya Pradesh where horticulture has vast potential are afoot. “Micro irrigation activities are also possible in areas which have turned marshy due to perennial water logging,” the minister added.